Hmm
by Celestial-moon-fire
Summary: Oh my, can it be? Another crzy for Batman to deal with. Marley jackson, to be exact. Starts out in Gotham, but eventually we'll make it to Arkham, where we hope to meet other Villians.
1. The beginning

Up in the night sky, the moon shown bright, hitting the figure of a man just perfectly as he stood on the edge of a building. His shape blocked the light, letting her know it was the Batman. A moment after she first saw him, she lifted a pair of binoculars to her eyes and stared up at him, waiting.

Waiting for what? Well… According to the clock, glowing green numbers, for the Batman to be distracted in a moment or two… A beep came from a small device attached to her ear. Carefully, as to not lose sight of him, she raised her right hand to her ear and pressed lightly.

"Is everything going according to plan?"

"Of course boss. The bomb is set to go off in exactly an hour, and we've placed it on the far side of the city as you've asked."

"Very good… Come back to base and prepare. Your team will leave for the target last." She pressed the button again, and smirked again as batman sprang into action. He put a hand to his ear, much like she'd just done, and leapt from the building, spreading his cape to catch the wind.

He was most likely heading for her decoy, and by the time he realized he'd been tricked, she'd have what she was after. But just to be sure, she unlocked a case on the table, containing her baton. Setting the binoculars down lightly, she lifted the smooth wooden stick with both hands. She pressed a button the handle, to make sure it was in perfect working condition.

Indeed it was, she agreed, as almost like a light saber, the layers of wood folded out, ending with a sharp, deadly point. She pressed another button, and the wood retracted, leaving only the sharp metal point. Perfect for slashing ones throat… Which of course was her very goal that night.

With the Batman busy disarming a decoy bomb, and her thugs hitting several jewelry stores around Gotham… She was free to go after the real target of the night.

She waited a few minutes, allowing for Batman to get farther away, before leaving the small room. On her way down a staircase, she constantly glanced back over her shoulder, and sighed in relief when she reached the bottom.

"Hey boss, we're ready to go." One of her underlings approached her.

"How many times must I remind you to call me Marley?" She hissed. The man paled, gulping as her grip tightened on the baton.

"I'm sorry Marley, I won't forget again."

"Good. As for the mission, I want you to send a team out every. Five, minutes. Starting after I leave, and make sure they are spread throughout the city."

"Away from the target house, I understand b-Marley."

Without anther word, he hurried off. She shook her head, thinking 'I need to keep my eye on him…' Before she slipped out the door to the base and entered the alley way. If she were seen, someone was sure to call for the police. To avoid publicity, Marley climbed the ladder of the fire escape, all the way to the roof, crouching behind a large metal pipe. As silently as possible, she began [picking her way across the rooftops, sometimes sneaking through alleys to reach the next building.

The base wasn't far from the Target house, and soon, she could see it… A tall red apartment building. Very familiar to her… A sudden wave of anger coursed through her. She clenched her fists until her nails cut into her hands. The wind, blowing a bit harder than it was before, whipped her hair around her face. With a growl of annoyance she reached up to push it out of her face.

Before she moved any closer, she inspected her hands. The cuts weren't deep, and actually had stopped bleeding already.

"Time to move…" Glancing around the area quickly, she sprinted to the edge and dropped down onto another fire escape. Her shoes made a soft clack every step she took. Every step made her wince, afraid someone was following. It was a great relief to her when she reached the ground and could begin the climb up the other escape. The first 'floor' was as far as she got before she was interrupted by a beep in her ear.

"What do you WANT?" She hissed. "I'm busy!"

There was no reply on the other end. Just a swish of air, a clack, and an electrical crackling.

"What…?" It couldn't be Batman! He couldn't have found her decoy's true purpose, or stopped all her underlings… it was impossible! It was too SOON. The only way he'd know was if… If one of her men had betrayed her. In fact, she was most sure of it. She would need to do this fast.

Marley pulled her communicator from her ear and smashed it, incase he could trace her signal, before rapidly ascending the fire escape to the top floor.

The window was unlocked, sliding open easily so she could slip inside. A book on the table by her left was used to prop it open for a quicker escape. It had dents in it from all the years of use.

'The living room…' he would be in his bed by now. Watching the news before he drifted off to sleep. She was hoping to wait until he'd be out in a few minutes, but Batman, for all she knew, could be on the way at that very moment.

Everything was in the same place as before. The same couch in the same corner, the same old bookshelf next to the black and white TV… But now was not the time for reminiscing. Assuming it was, in fact, the Batman on the other end of the communication line, she couldn't afford to waste time.

"N-no! Stay away from me!" The man screamed, terrified. Eyes wide, he searched for something to throw. The nearest thing was a blue vase. He chucked it at him as hard as he could, dismayed as he dodged. The man backed up against he wall, throwing another vase. This time he CAUGHT it. He placed it on a table as he passed, not even looking.

Next thing he knew, he was pinned to the wall, the angry face of the bat glareing at him. His eyes seemed to look into his very soul…

"Where is your boss?" He demanded.

"W-what boss are you talking about?"

"Don't play with me. I know this is more than just a simple robbery." Batman growled. 'This guy wasn't smart enough to set a decoy like that.'

"I-I swear! It was all m-my own genius!" The man stuttered, the fearful look in his eyes grew more… fearful the more he pressed for answers. Batman noticed something on his ear. It was a communicator, much like his own.

"Then you won't mind me taking this, will you?" He reached for it, and before the man could struggle, he had it in his hand.

After several more questions unanswered, Batman tied the man up and taped his mouth, then called for the police. With a last look over his houlder, he jumped from the window and glided to a shorter building's roof.

'I wonder who's on the other end of this communicator…' batman thought. 'Now's the time to find out.' he put it next to his ear and pressed the speak button.

"What do you WANT?" A voice hissed at him. "I'm busy!" It was a female voice he hadn't heard before.

'I'd better put a trace on this.' he did so quickly, in less than five seconds, then dropped it and smashed it with his boot.

Marely slipped quietly into the dark room. She was in luck, apparently. Usually he would be watching the news at this time instead of sleeping. She brought up her baton and clicked the button silently, the sharp knife tip ready for its job.

The target, a man named… Well, the name isn't important. We'll just refer to him as 'The target' for this portion of the story. The target, as I was saying, lay in bed, staring out the window into the full moon. The Bat Signal was shining, like almost every other week it did. With a small smile, he wondered who was causing trouble this time. The Joker? Two Face? Or maybe even the Riddler was out again. Most unlikely, however, as he'd only just been taken back a month or so ago.

He closed his eyes, sleepines weighing his eyelids down. Not but a minute later, they shot open as a sound came to his ears. It sounded like someone was in the room. He sat up and yawned, pretending not to notice. He reached for the light switch by the bed and glanced around the room. He didn't see anyone. But hust to be safe… He reached under his pillow and felt for his gun. It was there, and still loaded, he assumed. Ready for firing. Another look around and he shut off the light, kepping a hand under the pillow.

'That was close.' She thought, suppressing a sigh of relief. She'd just ducked under the bed before the light turned on. She was wasting precious seconds waiting here. The batman could be on his way,. She was now most certain of it. Her underlings. They were all cowards, to afraid of her to play jokes. There was a slight chance it had simply fallen off in a fight, if Batman had quickly run to the scene of a robbery and knocked out her crew… But she would most definetly bet on him comeing.

She heard a snore from her target. 'Still sleeps loudly…' she growled in annoyance, slipping out from beneath the bed. Before she got to her feet, she noticed a little book. 'What's this?' It was too dark to see, so she stuffed it in her coat pocket for later reading.

She readied her baton again, crawling around to he side ogf the bed away from his face, and stood, ready to strike.

'What would anyone want with this building?' Batman thought, approaching the building the trace had led him to. He checked the map of the building on his arm thing he never really had time to name. (He was thinking the Battracker or something like that, by the way.) The little red blip indicated he should climb to the top floor. Batman aimed hiw grapple hook for the top of the fire escape.

He hadn't really meant to fall asleep, but as he woke, blinking away his sleepiness, the face of a young woman glared down at him. Pure hatred swam in her eyes, as well as anger. At his through was a stick of some kind, that pressed into his skin. It took him a moment to notice the prickly feeling and the wetness sliding slowly down his neck. When he did, his weariness evaporated, replaced with fear. His eyes opened wide.

"Mr. Jackson…" She said quietly. Angrily. He winced at the hatred in her voice. Her glare was intenese.

"My name? How do you know it?" he asked, sounding anything but courageous.

She didn't answer. He risked sliding back, into a more comfortable, sitting position, and reaching his arm slowly behind him, searching for the gun.

"Stop moving." she yelled. He slipped, startled, sliding back a few inches.

"Stop moving!" Batman pulled himself silently to the fire escape flooring, and peeked through the window. There was a woman, standing with her back to the window. She had something in her hand. He wasn't sure it was a weapon or not, so he switched on his detective mode. She was outlined in red. And little box appeared to the left of his vision, showing her heart rate, a little higher than normal, her status, which was calm, and her weapon. She appeared to be holding a stick with a blade attached, according to the box.

'I need to get in there, without alarming her.' He moved silently, sliding his fingers under the window, praying it didn't make a sound. Luck was with him. The window opened silently.

"Why are you doing this?" The man on the bed asked. His voice was strained as he tried to hide the fear.

"If you… Think back a few years. Maybe… Fifteen? Or is it twenty now." She replied. "You know the two of were never good at math…"

Intregued as he was, he wouldn't risk the mans safety. He snuck up behind her, ready to do a silent takedown, when she suddenly spun around and brought her stick across his face. Well, his mask, actually. With contact, the metal against metal made a loud screech.

Now was his chance! As she spun to deal with Batman, who'd at some point snuck inside his room, he was free to grab for the gun. He took aim quickly, and pulled the trigger.

At the sound of the gun going off, Batman's first instinct was to duck. He pulled the woman down with him, though not fast enough. She let out a soft cry of pain as she hit the ground. The bullet from the gun had gone through her right shoulder, and was now dripping blood down her arm and onto the rug.

He quickly took aim for another shot. He wasn't sure how batman had moved so quickly, but there he was, grabbing his wrist to stop him from continuing. He immediately let go and stared at the woman again. She was already on her feet, glareing at him. Their eyes met for a moment, and the realization set it. "Marley?"

"I'll be back, Mr. Jackson." was all she said before jumping out the window and disappearing.

He looked at Batman. "Aren't you going to STOP her!?" He demanded.

"I'll find her soon enough. She has no one left to turn to." He said. By now, all the robberies set up around the city had been stopped, and all were being arrested at this very moment.

"How would you know?" Mr. Jackson asked as Batman let go of his wrist. He was ignored.

"You seem to know her. Tell me what you know."

There was a moment of silence, and then he answered. "Her name is Marley. She's my daughter…"

"Why did she try to kill you?"

"I don't know. Years ago, when she was only six years old… She murdered my wife, and if I didn't have the night shift that night, I would have been dead as well."

"And how do you know it was her?"

"Our neighbors heard the commotion and called the police. When they arrived, she was just sitting there… In the corner. The knife was still in her hands."

"Why is she out here and not in custody?"

"She ran away. You know how kids are always good at sneaking away."

"Anything else I should know?"

Mr. Jackson turned and thought for a moment. "Not really. But-"

Batman was gone.


	2. The book

She ran through the street, ducking to avoid people and ignored the people yelling at her. Eventually, there was an alley she slipped into, the lead straight to her base if she were to follow it. She winced, grabbing the ladder placed by the building over from her base and climbed. She would be using the fire escape. No doubt Batman would have figured out where she was by now.

Marley wasn't going to stay long, she only needed her first aid kit. And a heck of a lot of band-aids, as well.

'I'll get him next time…'

She glanced over her shoulder before running across the rooftop and leaping across the short gap to her base. She winced as she landed, waiting a moment for her legs to stop tingling, and dropped down to the fire escape. Earlier on, she'd had all the pervious floors (Only three in her building, if you were wondering.) removed, leaving only the top floor for easy access. Her window was closed tight, locked from the inside.

'Maybe I should have left it open.'

Now on her trail, Batman followed silently. He lost her when she ducked into an alley. He'd been expecting her to come out the other side, but when he realized she wouldn't, he'd already glided to far to turn without hitting a building. The sound of broken glass was a relief. He quickly followed the sound, and saw Marley crawl through a broken window.

On the wall was the first aid kit. She first checked that her door was locked tightly before looking for the things she needed. Now that she wasn't running, or fighting, her heart was beginning to return to a normal pace, and the wound in her shoulder began to burn. Biting her lip, she reached for a mirror. The bullet had, thankfully, gone all the way through. She wouldn't need to pull it out. She would need a new coat of course, this one being covered in her blood and two holes.

If she was going to do anything else, she'd need to take off her coat. Under that was a sleeves gray shirt, also by now she would assume covered in blood.

'I'll kill him. As soon as I'm better and my head doesn't feel so… Light, I'll… I'll kill him.'

I suppose the readers are wondering why Marley has it for the man. Or, if you were paying attention in the first chapter, her father. Well, for that, you would need a bit of a history lesson taking us back fifteen years, when the subject of interest was but six years old.

You see, Marley lived in the very apartment she'd just visited. Her mother had a job as a musical teacher, which paid very little. Her father, well… If he had a job, which he normally didn't, it was usually something they all avoided talking about. On her sixth birthday, exactly fifteen years ago today, her father was in a particularly bad mood. He'd just lost another job- Or more likely, he was no longer needed, as his employer would most likely be on his way out of the city. He came home late, and started throwing things around.

Her mother, of course meaning Marley's, tried to stop him. It was his daughters birthday, and here he was, scaring her half to death. They took their fight to the kitchen, where Marley wouldn't have to watch. Her father didn't really care about that, but her mother most certainly did.

Marley sat in the corner the whole time, her fingers in her ears. After a while, the yelling stopped, and there was a scream. Everything from there on was a blur to her. The clearest image she could recall was her father with that knife. He told her to hold on to it if she wanted to live. And then after that, he left. When he returned, he was completely cleaned off, calling for the police.

Marley winced again as she put a wet cloth against her shoulder. 'That… That…' She thought. "That stupid bat! He ruined EVERYTHING!"

She kept her head facing the window. She would see him if he tried to get in through the window. He didn't want that. He needed to take her out silently. She had her back to the door. If he snuck inside, he could sneak in.

'This is just hopeless.' Marley thought angrily, throwing the wet cloth across the room, where it hit the wall with a soft splat. She mumbled angrily to herself, and stood up to grab another coat from her closet. She didn't care her blood was still flowing through her wound, even if it DID stain her new coat. ignoring her pain, (or trying too) shje emptied her old pockets. A few bits of lint, her baton, and the book from Mr. Jackson's apartment. The cover was bright pink with random stickers. Stickers such as a faded and torn purple unicorn, and faded rainbow, and several flowers. On the front, was her name printed in large curly letters.

'What's in this thing anyway?' She opened the first page. 'Oh…' It was a picture book. Not like a two year olds, but one that held photos. She suddenly wanted to look through it, and took a seat. Her head was spinning, and she could feel a headache comeing on, vut she was determined to look through the book.

The first photo was of her, when she was… Acording to the small curly writeing in the corner, three months old. The next was when she was celebrating her first birthday, and pretty much each on after was just her at some event.

After she had turned several pages, she came across one of her and her mother, and a few of all three of them. On the last page, was a set of three pictures. One of her, her mother, and Mr. Jackson. She took his out and ripped it in half before placeing it back in.

The door was locked, but he easily picked it wioth his lock pick set. His detective mode showed that she was now on the other side of the room, her back to the door. He slowly pushed it open enough to slip inside.

"You'll die for what you did Mr. Jackson…" She murmured to herself and the pictures. "I'll kill you… And then you'll go away…"

She stood up suddenly, hearing something in the room. Too soon, she relized. Her head was spinning even worse now, and her vision couldn't seem to focus one thing. She took a step back, right into…

She was mumbling to a book for a while, before pulling something out and ripping it in half. 'Picture book?' He stepped on a creaky floorboard. Cursing in his mind, he snuck closer to Marley, who'd stood up. She looked dizzy. Probably she hadn't bothered to heal herself, or was unable to. Whatever the case, he had a pair of Batcuffs ready to snap on her wrists.

'Oh… Quiff…"' She thought absently as the cold metal closed around her wrists. 'I… I can't go… Down this… Easily…' She told herself to struggle, to get away from him, but now she was caught, her limbs just seemed to go limp. Her brain was revolting. That was it. Her body had lost quite a bit of its blood, combined with a sudden wave of exhaustion… And her brain had decided to take control without her permission.

He said something to her, but she didn't hear it. Either it was her mind, or she just didn't feel like listening. What she DID somehow decide to care about was the fact the picture book was gone. It was in her hand before he cuffed her- Probably dropped when he began leading her out the door.

"LET ME GO!" She screamed. "I have to get the book!" Now she pulled away from his with as much strength as she could muster. It was hardly enough, but Batman did stop.

"Book?" His eyes traveled across the floor to where he'd cuffed her hands behind her back. The little pink book she was looking through lay open, somewhere in the middle.

"I need it!" She screamed again. He wasn't worried about her getting away. She looked almost dead on her feet, and he'd all but dragged her along with him. Her struggles were weaker than the Riddler- Basically his physicly weakest foe he'd faced so far.

If only to stop her screaming, he returned for the book. As soon as he slipped it into her pocket she grew silent and walked slowly to her doom.

She sat quietly in the back seat of the Batmobile, not thinking of anything in particular. She wasn't really aware of anything. One minute she was looking up the window (A very strange place for a window. (Maybe Batman liked to look at the stars?) and the next she found herself slumped over against the side of the car, her head resting on the cold metal. (or maybe that was why the window was on the ceiling, so they couldn't break out as easily.)

Eventually, the Batmobile stopped. She blinked sleepily as the roof opened up and the bright lights a flashlight shone in her face. Everything else was a big blur. She yawned, shivering suddenly as someone put a strap over each wrist.

Batman watched silently as the woman was rolled off to the medical facility before hopping back in his car and leaving.


	3. First session

When Marley woke, and her eyes opened, she realized she was somewhere she didn't know. A dull light bulb above her flickered. Several insects flew around, each casting a slightly larger shadows on the grimy, dirt covered walls. She was lying on a bed that was anything but comfy. She tried to wriggle into a comfier position, but winced instead. For two reason, actually. One, moving sent a jolt of pain through her body, and the other… Well, she seemed to be strapped down tightly.

Next to her, there were a bunch of medical things. One was beeping every other second. It showed a constant scroll of spikes in green. There was a number on the top corner. Changing every second. One twenty, then one thirty. Back again. A little higher, and then down again.

Another machine had a bag of red liquid in it, connected to a tube. Fascinated by the stream of red that lurched forward, then stopped, and moved again, she followed it with her eyes. Soon as she saw where the tube ended, her eyes widened. It was sticking out of her arm. Her. Arm.

She began to pull against her bonds, to get away from the dreaded tube. The beeping machine showed an even higher number, and beeped louder. More frequently. The sound of a door opening reached her ears, and a man in a blue doctors uniform appeared. He had a needle in his hand. The last thing she could remember after that was being pricked in the arm.

Next time she woke up, there were people in the room with her. One had a clip board, and was staring at her.

"Patient has awoken." He warned, not taking his eyes off her.

"Marley?" A female doctor asked. She swiveled her head to look at her other side. The one with the machines. Marley stared at her silently. "Your name is Marley, right?"

For a moment, she didn't move, then slowly, she nodded her head.

The doctor nodded back. "How are you feeling?"

"I feel…" She started, but stopped herself. How DID she feel? From what she could tell, there was nothing going on in her mind.

"Yes…?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing?" She scribbled something down on her own clip board.

"Why were you struggling earlier?"

Marley gave her a confused look.

"When you first woke up. You were trying to get out of bed, and knocked over several machines."

That? Oh yes, that. The tube that was pumping some sort of red liquid into her arm.

"Your… Red thing… It scared me." She mumbled.

The doctor asked her to repeat. "What scared you?"

"That thing…" She turned her gaze onto the machine. It wasn't stuck in her arm anymore.

"That's an IV. You were dangerously close to bleeding out. We had to give you a blood transfusion."

"Oh…" The doctor asked her another question, then another… But suddenly, in mid-answer, she realized something. Her clothes. She wasn't wearing her clothes. She was instead in a white (Oh the horror) hospital gown. With no pockets.

"Marley?"

"My… My clothes. Where are my clothes?"

"They've been thrown out."

Marley grew pale. "No! No you can't!" She yelled, causing the doctor to jump back.

"I need my book! You can't throw it away!" Again, she tried to escape from her bonds. He shoulder burned all of a sudden from her moving so much.

"Quick! Someone sedate her!" The doctor yelled.

For the second time that day (or night, depending on the time) Marley felt a sting in her arm, and everything went blurry again.

"She was doing just fine, until I asked her about her actions the night before." The doctor, who's name I believe is Penelope Young, told her superior. "She suddenly started questioning the whereabouts of her clothing."

The man nodded, listening to the rest of her story. When she was finished, he asked about the book.

"I don't know about a book, sir. I was filling in for her doctor, since she isn't available at the moment."

"Who has been assigned to her case?"

Dr. Young twitched her left eye, thinking 'He's the medical facility supervisor, how can he not know?' Suppressing a sigh, she said "Dr. Cassidy."

"Oh, yes. Dr. Cassidy." The man (Dr. Alexander Lyons) shook his head. His glasses slid down his nose, and he took a moment to push them up again before speaking. "Why was she not available?"

"She called in sick, remember?"

"Sick… yes… She was sneezing the other day. I guess the rest of it finally caught up with her."

"If you say so, Dr. Lyons."

Several days later, possibly a week, the medical facility was… Quiet. They had only one patient currently in need of medical treatment, but usually… One was enough to start an uproar. However, since her arrival, she'd been silent. Well, to be more exact… Since her outburst the other day, she'd been silent.

She'd refused to cooperate with the doctors, and the last thing she told them was she didn't eat meat.

They took note of that for future reference.

Though they'd come back with vegetables, she'd still not touched it until someone else proved it wasn't poisoned first.

"I hate those schizophrenic cases," a Doctor said as he and a friend walked past her room. "Always mumbling to themselves about poison or something."

"Well at least this one doesn't speak much. It's been so silent here lately."

"I pity the security staff who're based in the penitentiary."

"Let me tell you two, it's not a fun place to be stationed." A guard at the door said as they passed.

"I can only imagine." The first doctor said.

"I would rather be stationed in intensive treatment than guard those screaming lunatics." the second added.

"So far I've been lucky to just guard the visitors' center. You can still hear the screaming from there, but at least it's not as bad."

While the guard and the doctors conversed, just a few feet away, a certain inma-patient was walking in circles. After a few days, they'd allowed her to walk around her room.

There was nothing in there but her, a bed, and that infernal light bulb. The doctors were still talking with the guard outside, but she noticed now all three were watching her carefully as she roamed about her room. She stopped walking and stared at them.

"Creepy…" Said the second doctor, who had a beard, if you looked closely.

'Maybe I should say something.' She thought. She hadn't spoken since they'd tried to make her eat meat. MEAT. Can you believe it?

Marley walked calmly up to the window and asked "Can I have my book?"

"What's this about a book, anyways?" Dr. Young asked over the phone.

"When Batman brought her in, she had a picture book in her pocket. I was planning on using it during our first session, but it slipped my mind when I got the flu." Replied Dr. Cassidy.

"Well she's asking for it now, and last time she didn't get it, she had to be sedated."

There was a sigh, and the tired voice of Dr. Cassidy replied by telling where to find the book.

"I'll be in to hold a session tomorrow. DON'T let her have the book, just show her it's unharmed."

"Again, I'm very sorry to have bothered you. Have a good night."

"You too." they both hung up, and Dr, Young set off to her colleague's office to find the book.

"Dr. Young." the bearded doctor greeted.

"Good evening."

"What's that you have there?" He glanced at the bright pink book in her hand.

"It's the book she's been asking us for. Dr. Cassidy recommended I showed it to her.

"I see…" He looked through the bullet proof glass.

The next day, Marley found herself in another room. There was a woman in white clothing sitting at a metal table, and two guards outside the door. She'd been handcuffed on the way to this room, but the woman asked that they take them off for the time being.

Marley decided that she liked her for now.

What she didn't like so much was the plain décor of the small room. White walls, white ceiling, white CARPET. The only thing NOT white in here was Marley, the woman, the table, and a mirror.

"Please Marley, have a seat." She said. Marley looked at the chair, which happened to be a plastic white chair little kids used at tea parties. With a grimace, she carefully sat on the uncomfortable thing.

"My name is Dr. Cassidy." The woman, Dr. Cassidy of course, said. If she'd said it of course she was Dr. Cassidy.

Marley nodded.

"I hear that this is the first time you've been to Arkham." She asked, smiling.

Again she nodded.

Dr. Cassidy asked her question after question, all yes or no. Marley hadn't said a single word since the night before. She wondered when Dr. Cassidy would ask her something she had to speak to answer.

Actually, as she thought that, Dr. Cassidy asked one such question.

"Marley, I understand you were asking for this?" Marley's eyes brightened as her doctor produced her picture book from seemingly out of no where.

"Yes! That's my book!" in her excitement, she hopped out of her chain, knocking it down.

The doctor jumped slightly, but otherwise sat still.

"Can I have it back now?"

"I can't give it to you to take to your cell, but I can however, let you take a look at it in here." She slid the book across the table. Marley grabbed it quickly and sat right on the floor, her head bent and her back against the table leg, she quickly opened it to the last page.

"Marley, I'm afraid you can't sit on the floor."

Marley either didn't hear her, or she didn't care. Dr. Cassidy stood and walked around the edge of the table to make sure she could see her.

"Marley."

"Hmm?" She didn't look up. She was running her finger down the page, across the picture of a man.

"Marley, you can't sit on the floor…"

"But I like the floor." Marley thought absently. Or said. She wasn't sure. The Doctor didn't reply so she most likely said it in her head. She felt a smile cross her face as her finger trailed along the edge of Mr. Jackson's picture.

"I'll get you Mr. Jackson… Just you wait…" She giggled, not sure where this sudden feeling of happiness had come from. Maybe from the thoughts of revenge running through her mind? Or possibly the thought of how she'd do it.

"You'e made it worse for yourself now…" She giggled again, gripping the book so hard her knuckles turned white and began to ache. But she didn't care about that. Not one bit. She could only think of how badly she was going to ghurt hiom for shooting her and getting her caught by the bat.

"Marley!"

Her head shot up, confused. Who had dared to interrupt her thoughts?

Her smile melted instantly at the first laugh. It was twisted… She sounded truly insane. Silently, she edged around the table. When Marley laughed again, she couldn't help but tell her to stop.

"Marley!"

The look she got was… Chilling. A terrible grin was stuck on her face, complimented nicely by the mad look in her eyes. She glared at her for a few seconds and got back to her feet. Trying not to panic, Dr. Cassidy ran her hand under the table and pressed the panic button. Moments later, the guards burst through the door to restrain the patient.

"Let me go! My book!" Marley growled, trying to break free. Once again her book had been knocked from her hands, and she was unable to reach it. Unlike the first time, her captors didn't go back for it.


End file.
